Charles V (Spanish: Carlos; German: Karl; Italian: Carlo; Latin:
Carolus; Dutch: Karel; French: Charles, [a] 24 February 1500 – 21
September 1558) was ruler of both the
Spanish EmpireSpanish Empire as Charles I
from 1516 and the
Holy Roman EmpireHoly Roman Empire as Charles V from 1519, as well as
of the lands of the former
Duchy of BurgundyDuchy of Burgundy from 1506. He voluntarily
stepped down from these and other positions by a series of abdications
between 1554 and 1556. Through inheritance, he brought together under
his rule extensive territories in western, central, and southern
Europe, and the Spanish viceroyalties in the Americas and Asia. As a
result, his domains spanned nearly 4 million square kilometres
(1.5 million square miles)[3] and were the first to be described
as "the empire on which the sun never sets".[4]
Charles was the heir of three of Europe's leading dynasties: the
Houses of Valois-Burgundy (through his paternal grandmother),
Habsburg, and Trastámara (his maternal grandparents were the Catholic
Monarchs of Spain). Upon the death of her mother Queen Isabella I of
Castile in 1504, Charles's mother Joanna inherited the kingdom of
Castile. She was mentally insane and held little real power, with her
father, King Ferdinand II of Aragon, and (briefly) her husband and
co-ruler, Philip, Charles's father, serving as regents. Upon the death
of Ferdinand V in 1516, Charles and Joanna ruled both Castile and
Aragon together, although Joanna remained in confinement. Charles
inherited the Netherlands and the
Free County of BurgundyFree County of Burgundy as heir of
the House of Valois-Burgundy. As a Habsburg, he inherited Austria and
other lands in central Europe. He was also elected to succeed his
grandfather, Maximilian I, as Holy Roman Emperor, a title held by the
Habsburgs since 1440. From the Spanish House of Trastámara, he
inherited the Crown of Castile, which was developing a nascent empire
in the Americas and Asia, and the Crown of Aragon, which included a
Mediterranean empire extending to Southern Italy. Charles was the
first king to rule Castile and Aragon simultaneously in his own right,
and as a result he is often referred to as the first king of Spain.[5]
The personal union under Charles of the
Holy Roman EmpireHoly Roman Empire with the
Spanish EmpireSpanish Empire was the closest Europe would come to a universal
monarchy since the death of
Louis the PiousLouis the Pious (778–840).
Because of widespread fears that his vast inheritance would lead to
the realization of a universal monarchy and that he was trying to
create a European hegemony, Charles was the object of hostility from
many enemies.[6] His reign was dominated by war and particularly by
three major simultaneous conflicts: the
Habsburg-Valois WarsHabsburg-Valois Wars with
France, the struggle to halt the Ottoman advance, and the Protestant
Reformation resulting in conflict with the German princes.[7] The wars
with France, mainly fought in Italy, resulted in recovery of territory
lost at the beginning of his reign and included the decisive defeat
and capture of
Francis I of FranceFrancis I of France at the
Battle of PaviaBattle of Pavia in 1525.
France recovered and the wars continued for the remainder of Charles's
reign. Enormously expensive, they led to the development of the first
modern professional army in Europe, the Tercios.
The struggle with the
Ottoman EmpireOttoman Empire was fought in Hungary and the
Mediterranean. After crushing Hungarian forces in 1526, the Ottomans'
advance was halted at their failed
Siege of ViennaSiege of Vienna in 1529. A lengthy
war of attrition, conducted on his behalf by his younger brother
Ferdinand (who had become king of Hungary), continued for the rest of
Charles's reign. In the Mediterranean, although there were some
successes, Charles was unable to prevent the Ottomans' increasing
naval dominance and the piratical activity of the Barbary corsairs.
Charles opposed the Reformation and in
GermanyGermany he was in conflict with
the Protestant Princes of the
Schmalkaldic LeagueSchmalkaldic League who were motivated
by both religious and political opposition to him. He could not
prevent the spread of
ProtestantismProtestantism and although he won a decisive
victory against the Princes at the Battle of Mühlberg, 1547, he was
ultimately forced to concede the
Peace of AugsburgPeace of Augsburg of 1555, which
divided
GermanyGermany on confessional lines.
While Charles did not typically concern himself with rebellions, he
was quick to put down three particularly dangerous rebellions in the
vital territories of Castile, the Frisian lands, and later in his
reign in the city of Ghent. Once the rebellions were quelled the
essential Castilian and Burgundian territories remained mostly loyal
to Charles throughout his rule.
Charles's Spanish dominions were the chief source of his power and
wealth, and they became increasingly important as his reign
progressed. In the Americas, Charles sanctioned the conquest by
Castillian conquistadores of the
AztecAztec and
IncaInca empires. Castillian
control was extended across much of South and Central America. The
resulting vast expansion of territory and the flows of South American
silver to Castile had profound long term effects on Spain.
Charles was only 56 when he abdicated, but after 40 years of energetic
rule he was physically exhausted and sought the peace of a monastery,
where he died at the age of 58. Upon Charles's abdications, the Holy
Roman Empire was inherited by his younger brother Ferdinand, who had
already been given the Austrian lands in 1521. The Spanish Empire,
including the possessions in the Netherlands and Italy, was inherited
by Charles's son Philip II of Spain. The two empires would remain
allies until the 18th century (when the Spanish branch of the House of
HabsburgHabsburg became extinct).

3 Marriage
4 Health
5 Abdications and later life
6 Death
7 Issue
8 Titles
9 Coat of arms of Charles V
10 In popular culture

10.1 Literature
10.2 Plays
10.3 Opera
10.4 Food
10.5 TV and film

11 Ancestors
12 See also
13 Notes
14 Bibliography

14.1 Other languages

15 External links

Heritage and early life[edit]

Portrait by Bernard van Orley, 1519

Charles was born in 1500 as the eldest son of Philip the Handsome and
Joanna of CastileJoanna of Castile in the Flemish city of Ghent, which was part of the
HabsburgHabsburg Netherlands.[8] The culture and courtly life of the
Burgundian Low CountriesBurgundian Low Countries were an important influence in his early
life. He was tutored by
William de CroÿWilliam de Croÿ (who would later become his
first prime minister), and also by Adrian of Utrecht (later Pope
Adrian VI). It is said that Charles spoke several vernacular
languages: he was fluent in French and Dutch, later adding an
acceptable Castilian Spanish (which Charles called the "divine
language"[9]) required by the Castilian
Cortes GeneralesCortes Generales as a
condition for becoming King of Castile. He also gained a decent
command of German (in which he was not fluent prior to his election),
though he never spoke it as well as French.[10] A witticism sometimes
attributed to Charles is: "I speak Spanish to God, Italian to women,
French to men and German to my horse." A variant of the quote is
attributed to him by Swift in his 1726 Gulliver's Travels, but there
are many other variants and it is often attributed instead to
Frederick the Great.[11]
From his Burgundian ancestors he inherited an ambiguous relationship
with the Kings of France. Charles shared with France his mother tongue
and many cultural forms. In his youth he made frequent visits to
Paris, then the largest city of Western Europe. In his words: "Paris
is not a city, but a world" (
LutetiaLutetia non urbs, sed orbis). He was
betrothed to both Louise and Charlotte of Valois, daughters of King
Francis I of France, but they both died in childhood. Charles also
inherited the tradition of political and dynastic enmity between the
royal and the Burgundian ducal lines of the Valois dynasty. Charles
was very attached to the
Burgundian Low CountriesBurgundian Low Countries where he had been
raised. These lands were very rich and contributed significantly to
the wealth of the Empire. He also spent much time there, mainly in
Brussels. This stands in contrast with the attitude of his son Philip
who only visited the Low Countries once.

Portrait by Jakob Seisenegger, 1533

Until the 1540s, Charles did not spend much time in
GermanyGermany (apart
from the Netherlands). He frequently was in Northern
ItalyItaly (then part
of the
Holy Roman EmpireHoly Roman Empire of the German Nation). He never actually
governed his Austrian dominions and made his brother Ferdinand the
ruler of these lands in 1521, as well as his representative in the
Holy Roman EmpireHoly Roman Empire during his absence. In spite of this, the Emperor
had a close relationship with some German families, like the House of
Nassau, many of which were represented at his court in Brussels. Some
German princes or noblemen accompanied him in his military campaigns
against France or the Ottomans, and the bulk of his army was generally
composed of German troops, especially the Imperial Landsknechte.[12]
Indeed, in 1519, he was elected because he was considered a German
prince while his main opponent was French. Nonetheless, in the long
term, the growth of Lutheranism and Charles' staunch Catholicism
alienated him from various German princes who finally fought against
him in the 1540s and the 1550s. It is important to note, though, that
other states of the Empire chose to support him in his war, and that
he had the constant support of his brother, in spite of their strained
personal relationship.[13] Whereas Charles spent much of his final
years as a ruler trying to address the issue of religion in the
Empire, it would ultimately be Ferdinand, by then much more popular in
Germany, who would bring peace to the German lands.
Though Spain was the core of his personal possessions and though he
had many Iberian ancestors, in his earlier years Charles felt as if he
were viewed as a foreign prince. He became fluent in Spanish late in
his life, as it was not his first language. Nonetheless, he spent much
of his life in Spain, including his final years in a Spanish
monastery, and his heir, later Philip II, was born and raised in
Spain. Indeed, Charles's motto, Plus Ultra ('Further Beyond'), became
the national motto of Spain. He had many Spanish counselors and,
except for the revolt of the comuneros in the 1520s, Spain remained
mostly loyal to him. Spain was also his most important military asset,
as it provided a great number of generals, as well as the formidable
Spanish tercios, considered the best infantry of its time. Many
Spaniards, however, believed that their resources were being used to
sustain a policy that was not in the country's interest.[14] They
usually believed that Charles should have focused on the Mediterranean
and North Africa instead of Northern or Central Europe.
Portrait gallery[edit]

Woodcut portrait, when young

Bernhard Strigel, 1516, detail

Medal, Conrad Meit, c. 1520

Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1533

Portrait from 1514–1516 by an unknown Flemish artist, showing an
unrestrained caricature of Charles' jaw

Thaler coin, Lübeck, 1537

Reign[edit]
Burgundy and the Low Countries[edit]

Charles V's European territories. Red represents the Crown of Aragon,
magenta the Crown of Castile, orange his Burgundian inheritances,
mustard yellow his Austrian inheritances, and pale yellow the balance
of the Holy Roman Empire.

In 1506, Charles inherited his father's Burgundian territories, most
notably the Low Countries and Franche-Comté. Most of the holdings
were fiefs of the German Kingdom (part of the Holy Roman Empire),
except his birthplace of Flanders, which was still a French fief, a
last remnant of what had been a powerful player in the Hundred Years'
War. As he was a minor, his aunt Margaret of Austria (born as
Archduchess of Austria and in both her marriages as the Dowager
Princess of Asturias and Dowager Duchess of Savoy) acted as regent, as
appointed by Emperor Maximilian until 1515. She soon found herself at
war with France over the question of Charles' requirement to pay
homage to the French king for Flanders, as his father had done. The
outcome was that France relinquished its ancient claim on Flanders in
1528.
From 1515 to 1523, Charles's government in the Netherlands also had to
contend with the rebellion of Frisian peasants (led by Pier Gerlofs
Donia and Wijard Jelckama). The rebels were initially successful but
after a series of defeats, the remaining leaders were captured and
decapitated in 1523.
Charles extended the Burgundian territory with the annexation of
Tournai, Artois, Utrecht, Groningen and Guelders. The Seventeen
Provinces had been unified by Charles's Burgundian ancestors, but
nominally were fiefs of either France or the Holy Roman Empire. In
1549, Charles issued a Pragmatic Sanction, declaring the Low Countries
to be a unified entity of which his family would be the heirs.[15]
The Low Countries held an important place in the Empire. For Charles V
personally they were his home, the region where he was born and spent
his childhood. Because of trade and industry and the wealth of the
region's cities, the Low Countries also represented an important
income for the Imperial treasury.
The Burgundian territories were generally loyal to Charles throughout
his reign. The important city of
GhentGhent rebelled in 1539 due to heavy
tax payments demanded by Charles. The rebellion did not last long,
however, as Charles's military response, with reinforcement from the
Duke of Alba,[15] was swift and humiliating to the rebels of
Ghent.[16][17]
Spain[edit]

The city of Toledo was the imperial capital and main seat of Charles
V, Holy Roman Emperor, and his court.[18][19]

In the Castilian Cortes of
ValladolidValladolid in 1506 and of Madrid in 1510,
Charles was sworn as the Prince of Asturias, heir-apparent to his
mother the Queen Joanna.[20] On the other hand, in 1502, the Aragonese
Corts gathered in Saragossa and pledged an oath to Joanna as
heiress-presumptive, but the Archbishop of Saragossa expressed firmly
that this oath could not establish jurisprudence, that is to say,
modify the right of the succession, except by virtue of a formal
agreement between the Cortes and the King.[21][22] So, upon the death
of King Ferdinand II of Aragon, on 23 January 1516, Joanna inherited
the Crown of Aragon, which consisted of Catalonia, Valencia, Naples,
Sicily and Sardinia, while Charles became Governor General.[23]
Nevertheless, the Flemings wished Charles to assume the royal
title,[citation needed] and this was supported by his grandfather the
emperor Maximilian I and Pope Leo X.
Thus, after the celebration of Ferdinand II's obsequies on 14 March
1516, Charles was proclaimed king of the crowns of Castile and Aragon
jointly with his mother. Finally, when the Castilian regent Cardinal
Jiménez de CisnerosJiménez de Cisneros accepted the fait accompli, he acceded to
Charles's desire to be proclaimed king and imposed his enstatement
throughout the kingdom.[24] Charles arrived in his new kingdoms in
autumn of 1517.
Jiménez de CisnerosJiménez de Cisneros came to meet him but fell ill
along the way, not without a suspicion of poison, and he died before
meeting the King.[25]

Due to the irregularity of Charles assuming the royal title while his
mother, the legitimate queen, was alive, the negotiations with the
Castilian Cortes in
ValladolidValladolid (1518) proved difficult.[26] In the end
Charles was accepted under the following conditions: he would learn to
speak Castilian; he would not appoint foreigners; he was prohibited
from taking precious metals from Castile; and he would respect the
rights of his mother, Queen Joanna. The Cortes paid homage to him in
ValladolidValladolid in February 1518. After this, Charles departed to the crown
of Aragon. He managed to overcome the resistance of the Aragonese
Cortes and Catalan Corts,[27] and he was finally recognized as king of
Aragon and count of Barcelona jointly with his mother.[28] The Kingdom
of Navarre had been invaded by Ferdinand of Aragon jointly with
Castile in 1512, but he pledged a formal oath to respect the kingdom.
On Charles's accession to the Spanish throne, the Parliament of
Navarre (Cortes) required him to attend the coronation ceremony (to
become Charles IV of Navarre), but this demand fell on deaf ears, and
the Parliament kept piling up grievances.
Charles was accepted as sovereign, even though the Spanish felt uneasy
with the Imperial style. Spanish kingdoms varied in their traditions.
Castile was an authoritarian kingdom, where the monarch's own will
easily overrode law and the Cortes. By contrast, in the kingdoms of
the crown of Aragon, and especially in the Pyrenean kingdom of
Navarre, law prevailed, and the monarchy was a contract with the
people. This became an inconvenience and a matter of dispute for
Charles V and later kings, since realm-specific traditions limited
their absolute power. With Charles, government became more absolute,
even though until his mother's death in 1555 Charles did not hold the
full kingship of the country.
Soon resistance to the Emperor arose because of heavy taxation to
support foreign wars in which Castilians had little interest, and
because Charles tended to select Flemings for high offices in Spain
and America, ignoring Castilian candidates. The resistance culminated
in the Revolt of the Comuneros, which Charles suppressed. Immediately
after crushing the Castilian revolt, Charles was confronted again with
the hot issue of Navarre when King Henry II attempted to reconquer the
kingdom. Main military operations lasted until 1524, when Hondarribia
surrendered to Charles's forces, but frequent cross-border clashes in
the western Pyrenees only stopped in 1528 (Treaties of Madrid and
Cambrai).
After these events, Navarre remained a matter of domestic and
international litigation still for a century (a French dynastic claim
to the throne did not end until the French Revolution in 1789).
Charles wanted his son and heir Philip II to marry the heiress of
Navarre, Jeanne d'Albret. Jeanne was instead forced to marry William,
Duke of Julich-Cleves-Berg, but that childless marriage was annulled
after four years. She next married Antoine de Bourbon, and both she
and their son would oppose Philip II in the French Wars of Religion.
Castile became integrated into Charles's empire, and provided the bulk
of the empire's financial resources as well as its most effective
military units. The enormous budget deficit accumulated during
Charles's reign resulted in Spain declaring bankruptcy during the
reign of Philip II.[29]
Italy[edit]
The
Crown of AragonCrown of Aragon inherited by Charles included the Kingdom of
Naples, the
Kingdom of SicilyKingdom of Sicily and the Kingdom of Sardinia. Aragon also
previously controlled the Duchy of Milan, but a year before Charles
ascended to the throne, it was annexed by France after the Battle of
Marignano in 1515. Charles succeeded in re-capturing
MilanMilan in 1522,
when Imperial troops defeated the Franco-Swiss army at Bicocca. Yet in
1524
Francis I of FranceFrancis I of France retook the initiative, crossing into Lombardy
where Milan, along with a number of other cities, once again fell to
his attack.
PaviaPavia alone held out, and on 24 February 1525 (Charles's
twenty-fifth birthday), Charles's Spanish forces captured Francis and
crushed his army in the Battle of Pavia, yet again retaking
MilanMilan and
Lombardy. Spain successfully held on to all of its Italian
territories, though they were invaded again on multiple occasions
during the Italian Wars.
In addition,
HabsburgHabsburg trade in the Mediterranean was consistently
disrupted by the Ottoman Empire. In 1538 a Holy League consisting of
all the Italian states and Spain was formed to drive the Ottomans
back, but it was defeated at the Battle of Preveza. Decisive naval
victory eluded Charles; it would not be achieved until after Charles's
death, at the
Battle of LepantoBattle of Lepanto in 1571.
America[edit]
During Charles's reign, the Spanish territories in the Americas were
considerably extended by conquistadores like
Hernán CortésHernán Cortés and
Francisco Pizarro. They conquered the large
AztecAztec and
IncaInca empires and
incorporated them into the Empire as the Viceroyalties of New Spain
and Peru between 1519 and 1542. Combined with the circumnavigation of
the globe by the Magellan expedition in 1522, these successes
convinced Charles of his divine mission to become the leader of
Christendom, which still perceived a significant threat from Islam.
The conquests also helped solidify Charles's rule by providing the
state treasury with enormous amounts of bullion. As the conquistador
Bernal Díaz del CastilloBernal Díaz del Castillo observed, "We came to serve God and his
Majesty, to give light to those in darkness, and also to acquire that
wealth which most men covet."[30]
In 1528 Charles assigned a concession in
Venezuela ProvinceVenezuela Province to
Bartholomeus V. Welser, in compensation for his inability to repay
debts owed. The concession, known as
Klein-VenedigKlein-Venedig (little Venice),
was revoked in 1546. In 1550, Charles convened a conference at
ValladolidValladolid in order to consider the morality of the force used against
the indigenous populations of the New World, which included figures
such as Bartolomé de las Casas.
Charles V is credited with the first idea of constructing an American
Isthmus canal in Panama as early as 1520.[31]
Holy Roman Empire[edit]

Pope Clement VIIPope Clement VII and Emperor Charles V on horseback under a canopy, by
Jacopo Ligozzi, c. 1580. It describes the entry of the Pope and the
Emperor into
BolognaBologna in 1530, when the latter was crowned as Holy
Roman Emperor by the former.

After the death of his paternal grandfather, Maximilian, in 1519,
Charles inherited the
HabsburgHabsburg Monarchy. He was also the natural
candidate of the electors to succeed his grandfather as Holy Roman
Emperor. He defeated the candidacies of Frederick III, Elector of
Saxony, Francis I of France, and Henry VIII of England. The electors
gave Charles the crown on 28 June 1519. On 26 October 1520 he was
crowned in
GermanyGermany and some ten years later, on 22 February 1530, he
was crowned
Holy Roman EmperorHoly Roman Emperor by
Pope Clement VIIPope Clement VII in Bologna, the
last emperor to receive a papal coronation.[32][33]
Despite holding the imperial throne, Charles's real authority was
limited by the German princes. They gained a strong foothold in the
Empire's territories, and Charles was determined not to let this
happen in the Netherlands. An inquisition was established as early as
1522. In 1550, the death penalty was introduced for all cases of
unrepentant heresy. Political dissent was also firmly controlled, most
notably in his place of birth, where Charles, assisted by the Duke of
Alba, personally suppressed the Revolt of
GhentGhent in mid-February
1540.[15]
Charles abdicated as emperor in 1556 in favor of his brother
Ferdinand; however, due to lengthy debate and bureaucratic procedure,
the Imperial Diet did not accept the abdication (and thus make it
legally valid) until 24 February 1558. Up to that date, Charles
continued to use the title of emperor.
France[edit]

Francis I and Charles V made peace at the
Truce of NiceTruce of Nice in 1538.
Francis actually refused to meet Charles in person, and the treaty was
signed in separate rooms.

Much of Charles's reign was taken up by conflicts with France, which
found itself encircled by Charles's empire while it still maintained
ambitions in Italy. In 1520, Charles visited England, where his aunt,
Catherine of Aragon, urged her husband, Henry VIII, to ally himself
with the emperor. In 1508 Charles was nominated by Henry VII to the
Order of the Garter.[34] His
Garter stall plateGarter stall plate survives in Saint
George's Chapel.
The first war with Charles's great nemesis
Francis I of FranceFrancis I of France began
in 1521. Charles allied with
EnglandEngland and
Pope Leo XPope Leo X against the French
and the Venetians, and was highly successful, driving the French out
of
MilanMilan and defeating and capturing Francis at the
Battle of PaviaBattle of Pavia in
1525. To gain his freedom, Francis ceded Burgundy to Charles in the
Treaty of Madrid, as well as renouncing his support of Henry II's
claim over Navarre.

When he was released, however, Francis had the Parliament of Paris
denounce the treaty because it had been signed under duress. France
then joined the League of Cognac that
Pope Clement VIIPope Clement VII had formed with
Henry VIII of England, the Venetians, the Florentines, and the
Milanese to resist imperial domination of Italy. In the ensuing war,
Charles's sack of Rome (1527) and virtual imprisonment of Pope Clement
VII in 1527 prevented the Pope from annulling the marriage of Henry
VIII of
EnglandEngland and Charles's aunt Catherine of Aragon, so Henry
eventually broke with Rome, thus leading to the English
Reformation.[35][36] In other respects, the war was inconclusive. In
the
Treaty of CambraiTreaty of Cambrai (1529), called the "Ladies' Peace" because it
was negotiated between Charles's aunt and Francis' mother, Francis
renounced his claims in
ItalyItaly but retained control of Burgundy.
A third war erupted in 1536. Following the death of the last Sforza
Duke of Milan, Charles installed his son Philip in the duchy, despite
Francis's claims on it. This war too was inconclusive. Francis failed
to conquer Milan, but he succeeded in conquering most of the lands of
Charles's ally, the Duke of Savoy, including his capital Turin. A
truce at
NiceNice in 1538 on the basis of uti possidetis ended the war but
lasted only a short time. War resumed in 1542, with Francis now allied
with Ottoman Sultan Suleiman I and Charles once again allied with
Henry VIII. Despite the conquest of
NiceNice by a Franco-Ottoman fleet,
the French could not advance toward Milan, while a joint
Anglo-Imperial invasion of northern France, led by Charles himself,
won some successes but was ultimately abandoned, leading to another
peace and restoration of the status quo ante bellum in 1544.
A final war erupted with Francis' son and successor, Henry II, in
1551. Henry won early success in Lorraine, where he captured Metz, but
French offensives in
ItalyItaly failed. Charles abdicated midway through
this conflict, leaving further conduct of the war to his son, Philip
II, and his brother, Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor.
Conflicts with the Ottoman Empire[edit]
Further information:
ProtestantismProtestantism and Islam, Habsburg-Persian
alliance, Conquest of Tunis (1534), and conquest of Tunis (1535)
Charles fought continually with the
Ottoman EmpireOttoman Empire and its sultan,
Suleiman the Magnificent. The defeat of Hungary at the Battle of
Mohács in 1526 "sent a wave of terror over Europe."[37][38] The
Muslim advance in Central Europe was halted at the
Siege of ViennaSiege of Vienna in
1529.
Suleiman won the contest for mastery of the Mediterranean, in spite of
Spanish victories such as the conquest of Tunis in 1535. The regular
Ottoman fleet came to dominate the
Eastern Mediterranean after its
victories at Preveza in 1538 and Djerba in 1560 (shortly after
Charles's death), which severely decimated the Spanish marine arm. At
the same time, the Muslim Barbary corsairs, acting under the general
authority and supervision of the sultan, regularly devastated the
Spanish and Italian coasts, crippling Spanish trade and chipping at
the foundations of
HabsburgHabsburg power.
In 1536
Francis I of FranceFrancis I of France allied himself with Suleiman against
Charles. While Francis was persuaded to sign a peace treaty in 1538,
he again allied himself with the Ottomans in 1542 in a Franco-Ottoman
alliance. In 1543 Charles allied himself with Henry VIII and forced
Francis to sign the Truce of Crépy-en-Laonnois. Later, in 1547,
Charles signed a humiliating[39] treaty with the Ottomans to gain
himself some respite from the huge expenses of their war.[40]
Charles V made overtures to the
Safavid EmpireSafavid Empire to open a second front
against the Ottomans, in an attempt at creating a Habsburg-Persian
alliance. Contacts were positive, but rendered difficult by enormous
distances. In effect, however, the Safavids did enter in conflict with
the
Ottoman EmpireOttoman Empire in the Ottoman-Safavid War, forcing it to split its
military resources.[41]

Protestant Reformation[edit]
As Holy Roman Emperor, Charles called
Martin LutherMartin Luther to the Diet of
Worms in 1521, promising him safe conduct if he would appear.
Initially dismissing Luther's theses as "an argument between monks",
he later outlawed Luther and his followers in that same year but was
tied up with other concerns and unable to take action against
Protestantism. The Peasants' Revolt in
GermanyGermany broke out from 1524 to
1526, and in 1531 the Lutheran
Schmalkaldic LeagueSchmalkaldic League was formed. Charles
delegated increasing responsibility for
GermanyGermany to his brother
Ferdinand while he concentrated on problems elsewhere.
In 1545, the opening of the
Council of TrentCouncil of Trent began the
Counter-Reformation, and Charles won to the Catholic cause some of the
princes of the Holy Roman Empire.[citation needed] In 1546 (the year
of Luther's death), he outlawed the
Schmalkaldic LeagueSchmalkaldic League (which had
occupied the territory of another prince). The next year his forces
drove the League's troops out of southern Germany, and defeated John
Frederick, Elector of Saxony and Philip of Hesse at the Battle of
Mühlberg, capturing both. At the
Augsburg Interim in 1548, he created
a solution giving certain allowances to Protestants until the Council
of Trent would restore unity. However, members of both sides resented
the Interim and some actively opposed it. In 1552 Protestant princes,
in alliance with Henry II of France, rebelled again, which caused
Charles to retreat to the Netherlands.
Marriage[edit]

During his lifetime, Charles V had several mistresses, but only during
his bachelorhood and only once during his widowhood; there are no
records of him ever having had any extramarital affairs during his
marriage.
Negotiations for Charles's marriage first began shortly after his
arrival in Spain, with the Spanish nobles expressing their wishes for
him to marry his first cousin the Infanta Isabella of Portugal,
daughter of King
Manuel I of PortugalManuel I of Portugal and Charles's aunt Queen Maria
of Aragon, and sister of King John III of Portugal. The nobles desired
for Charles to marry a princess of Spanish blood and a marriage to
Isabella would secure an alliance between Spain and Portugal. The 18
year old King, however, was in no hurry to marry and ignored the
nobles' advice. Instead of marrying Isabella, he sent his sister
Eleanor of AustriaEleanor of Austria to marry Isabella's widowed father King Manuel in
1518. In 1521, on the advice of his Flemish advisors, especially
William de Croÿ, Charles became engaged to his other first cousin
Princess Mary Tudor, daughter of his aunt
Catherine of AragonCatherine of Aragon and King
Henry VIII of EnglandHenry VIII of England in order to secure an alliance with England.
However, this engagement was very problematic; Mary Tudor was only 6
years old at the time, sixteen years Charles's junior, which meant
that he would have to wait for her to be old enough to marry.
By 1525, Charles was no longer interested in an alliance with England
and could not wait any longer to have legitimate children and heirs.
Following his victory in the Battle of Pavia, Charles abandoned the
idea of an English alliance, cancelled his engagement to Mary Tudor
and decided to marry Isabella and form an alliance with Portugal. He
wrote to his cousin King John, making a double marriage contract -
Charles would marry Isabella and John would marry Charles's youngest
sister Catherine of Austria. A marriage to Isabella was more
beneficiary for Charles, as she was closer to him in age, was fluent
in Spanish and provided him with a very handsome dowry of 900,000
Portuguese cruzados or Castilian folds that would help to solve his
financial problems brought on by the Italian Wars.

On 10 March 1526, Charles and Isabella met at the Alcázar Palace in
Seville. The marriage was originally a political arrangement, but on
their first meeting, the couple fell deeply in love, with Isabella
captivating the Emperor with her beauty and charm. They were married
that very same night in a quiet ceremony in the Hall of Ambassadors.
Following their wedding, Charles and Isabella spent a long and happy
honeymoon at the
AlhambraAlhambra in Granada. Wishing to establish their
residence in the
AlhambraAlhambra palaces, Charles began the construction of
the
Palace of Charles VPalace of Charles V in 1527, which was intended as a permanent
residence befitting an emperor and empress. However, the palace was
not completed during their lifetime and remained roofless until the
late 20th century.[42]
Despite the Emperor's long absences due to political affairs abroad,
the marriage was a happy one, as both partners were always devoted and
faithful to each other.[43] The Empress acted as regent of Spain
during her husband's absences and she proved herself to be a good
politician and ruler, thoroughly impressing the Emperor with many of
her political gains and decisions.
The marriage lasted for thirteen years until Isabella died at the age
of 35 on 1 May 1539. The Empress contracted a fever during the third
month of her seventh pregnancy, which resulted in antenatal
complications that caused her to miscarry and give birth to a
stillborn son. She died two weeks later. Charles was left so
grief-stricken by his wife's death that he shut himself up in a
monastery for two months where he prayed and mourned for her in
solitude.[44] In the aftermath, Charles never recovered from
Isabella's death; he dressed in black for the rest of his life, and,
unlike most kings of the time, he never remarried. In memory of his
wife, the Emperor commissioned the painter
TitianTitian to paint several
posthumous portraits of Isabella; the portraits that were produced
included Titian's Portrait of Empress
Isabel of PortugalIsabel of Portugal and La
Gloria.[45] Charles kept these portraits with him whenever he
travelled and they were among those that he later brought with him to
the
Monastery of YusteMonastery of Yuste in 1557 after his retirement.[46]
Charles also paid tribute to Isabella's memory with music, when in
1540, he commissioned the Flemish composer
Thomas CrecquillonThomas Crecquillon to
compose new music as a memorial to her. Crecquillon composed his Missa
'Mort m'a privé' in memory of the Empress, which itself expresses the
Emperor's grief and great wish for a heavenly reunion with his beloved
wife.[47]
Health[edit]
Charles suffered from an enlarged lower jaw, a deformity that became
considerably worse in later
HabsburgHabsburg generations, giving rise to the
term
HabsburgHabsburg jaw. This deformity may have been caused by the family's
long history of inbreeding, which was commonly practiced in royal
families of that era to maintain dynastic control of
territory.[citation needed] He suffered from epilepsy[48] and was
seriously afflicted with gout, presumably caused by a diet consisting
mainly of red meat.[49] As he aged, his gout progressed from painful
to crippling. In his retirement, he was carried around the monastery
of St.
YusteYuste in a sedan chair. A ramp was specially constructed to
allow him easy access to his rooms.[50]
Abdications and later life[edit]

Charles abdicated the parts of his empire piecemeal. First he
abdicated the thrones of Sicily and Naples, both fiefs of the Papacy,
and the
Duchy of MilanDuchy of Milan to his son Philip in 1554. Upon Charles's
abdication of Naples on 25 July, Philip was invested with the kingdom
(officially "Naples and Sicily") on 2 October by Pope Julius III. The
abdication of the throne of Sicily, sometimes dated to 16 January
1556, must have taken place before Joanna's death in 1555. There is a
record of Philip being invested with this kingdom (officially "Sicily
and Jerusalem") on 18 November 1554 by Julius. These resignations are
confirmed in Charles's will from the same year.[51] The most
famous—and public—abdication of Charles took place a year later,
on 25 October 1555, when he announced to the States General of the
Netherlands his abdication of those territories and the county of
Charolais and his intention to retire to a monastery.[51] He abdicated
as ruler of the
Spanish EmpireSpanish Empire in January 1556, with no fanfare, and
gave these possessions to Philip.[51] In September 1556, he abdicated
as
Holy Roman EmperorHoly Roman Emperor in favor of his brother Ferdinand, although the
abdication was not formally accepted by the Electors of the Empire
until 1558.[52] The delay had been at the request of Ferdinand, who
had been concerned about holding a risky election in 1556.[51]
Charles retired to the
Monastery of YusteMonastery of Yuste in Extremadura but continued
to correspond widely and kept an interest in the situation of the
empire. He suffered from severe gout. Some scholars think Charles
decided to abdicate after a gout attack in 1552 forced him to postpone
an attempt to recapture the city of Metz, where he was later defeated.
He lived alone in a secluded monastery, with clocks lining every wall,
which some historians believe were symbols of his reign and his lack
of time.[53] In an act designed to "merit the favour of heaven", about
six months before his death Charles staged his own funeral, complete
with shroud and coffin, after which he "rose out of the coffin, and
withdrew to his apartment, full of those awful sentiments, which such
a singular solemnity was calculated to inspire." [54]
Death[edit]

The bronze effigies of Charles and Isabella at the Basilica in El
Escorial

In August 1558, Charles was taken seriously ill with what was later
revealed to be malaria.[55] He died in the early hours of the morning
on 21 September 1558, at the age of 58, holding in his hand the cross
that his wife Isabella had been holding when she died.[56]
Charles was originally buried in the chapel of the Monastery of Yuste,
but he left a codicil in his last will and testament asking for the
establishment of a new religious foundation in which he would be
reburied with Isabella.[57] Following his return to Spain in 1559,
their son Philip undertook the task of fulfilling his father's wish
when he founded the Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial. After the
Monastery's Royal Crypt was completed in 1574, the bodies of Charles
and Isabella were relocated and re-interred into a small vault
directly underneath the altar of the famous Basilica of the Monastery,
in accordance with Charles's wishes to be buried "half-body under the
altar and half-body under the priest's feet" side by side with
Isabella. They remained in this vault until 1654 when they were later
moved into the Royal Pantheon of Kings by their great-grandson Philip
IV, who, in doing so, disrespected his great-grandfather's wishes.[58]
On one side of the Basilica are bronze effigies of Charles and
Isabella, with effigies of their daughter Maria of Austria and
Charles's sisters
Eleanor of AustriaEleanor of Austria and Maria of Hungary behind them.
Exactly adjacent to them on the opposite side of the Basilica are
effigies of their son Philip with three of his wives and their
ill-fated grandson Carlos, Prince of Asturias.
Issue[edit]
Charles and Isabella had seven children, though only three survived to
adulthood:

Name
Portrait
Lifespan
Notes

Philip II of Spain

21 May 1527 –
13 September 1598
Only surviving son, successor of his father in the Spanish crown.

Maria

21 June 1528 –
26 February 1603
Married her first cousin Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor.

Ferdinand

22 November 1529 –
13 July 1530
Died in infancy.

Son

29 June 1534
Miscarried and stillborn.

Joanna

26 June 1535 –
7 September 1573
Married her first cousin João Manuel, Prince of Portugal.

John

19 October 1537 –
20 March 1538
Died in infancy.

Son

21 April 1539
Stillborn.

Due to Philip II being a grandson of
Manuel I of PortugalManuel I of Portugal through his
mother he was in the line of succession to the throne of Portugal, and
claimed it after his uncle's death (Henry, the Cardinal-King, in
1580), thus establishing the Iberian Union.
Charles also had four illegitimate children:

Margaret of Austria (1522 – 1586), daughter of Johanna Maria van der
Gheynst, a servant of Charles I de Lalaing, Seigneur de Montigny,
daughter of Gilles Johann van der Gheynst and wife Johanna van der
Caye van Cocamby. Married firstly with Alessandro de' Medici, Duke of
Florence and secondly with Ottavio Farnese, Duke of Parma.
Joanna of Austria (1522 – 1530), daughter of a noble lady from
Nassau.
Tadea of Austria (1523? – ca. 1562), daughter of Orsolina della
Penna. Married with Sinibaldo di Copeschi.
John of AustriaJohn of Austria (1547 – 1578), son of Barbara Blomberg, victor of
the Battle of Lepanto

Historians suspect he fathered Isabel of Castile, the illegitimate
daughter of his step-grandmother Germaine of Foix.

Margaret of Parma

John of Austria

Titles[edit]

Charles V, enthroned over his defeated enemies (from left): Suleiman,
Pope Clement VII, Francis I, the Duke of Cleves, the Duke of Saxony
and the Landgrave of Hesse.

The titles of King of Hungary, of Bohemia, and of Croatia, were
incorporated into the imperial family during Charles's reign, but they
were held, both nominally and substantively, by his brother Ferdinand,
who initiated a four-century-long
HabsburgHabsburg rule over these eastern
territories.
However, according Charles V testament, the titles of King of Hungary,
of Dalmatia, and of Croatia and others were legated to his grandson,
InfanteInfante Carlos,
Prince of AsturiasPrince of Asturias who was the son of Philip II of
Spain, and who died young. Charles's full titulature went as follows:
Charles, by the grace of God, Holy Roman Emperor, forever August, King
of Germany, King of Italy, King of all Spains, of Castile, Aragon,
León, of Hungary, of Dalmatia, of Croatia, Navarra, Grenada, Toledo,
Valencia, Galicia, Majorca, Sevilla, Cordova, Murcia, Jaén, Algarves,
Algeciras, Gibraltar, the Canary Islands, King of Two Sicilies, of
Sardinia, Corsica, King of Jerusalem, King of the Western and Eastern
Indies, of the Islands and Mainland of the Ocean Sea, Archduke of
Austria, Duke of Burgundy, Brabant, Lorraine, Styria, Carinthia,
Carniola, Limburg, Luxembourg, Gelderland, Neopatria, Württemberg,
Landgrave of Alsace, Prince of Swabia, Asturia and Catalonia, Count of
Flanders, Habsburg, Tyrol, Gorizia, Barcelona, Artois, Burgundy
Palatine, Hainaut, Holland, Seeland, Ferrette, Kyburg, Namur,
Roussillon, Cerdagne, Drenthe, Zutphen, Margrave of the Holy Roman
Empire, Burgau,
OristanoOristano and Gociano, Lord of Frisia, the Wendish
March, Pordenone, Biscay, Molin, Salins, Tripoli and Mechelen.
Coat of arms of Charles V[edit]
Further information: Coat of arms of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Coat of arms of Charles I of Spain and V of
GermanyGermany according to the
description: Arms of Charles I added to those of Castile, Leon,
Aragon, Two Sicilies and
GranadaGranada present in the previous coat, those
of Austria, ancient Burgundy, modern Burgundy, Brabant, Flanders and
Tyrol. Charles I also incorporates the pillars of Hercules with the
inscription "Plus Ultra", representing the overseas empire and
surrounding coat with the collar of the Golden Fleece, as sovereign of
the Order ringing the shield with the imperial crown and Acola
double-headed eagle of the
Holy Roman EmpireHoly Roman Empire and behind it the Spanish
Cross of Burgundy. From 1520 added to the corresponding quarter to
Aragon and Sicily, one in which the arms of Jerusalem, Naples and
Navarre are incorporated.

Coat of Arms of Charles I of Spain, Charles V as Holy Roman Emperor

Arms of Charles, Infant of Spain, Archduke of Austria, Duke of
Burgundy, KG at the time of his installation as a knight of the Most
Noble Order of the Garter

In popular culture[edit]
References to Charles V include a large number of legends and folk
tales; literary renderings of historical events connected to Charles's
life and romantic adventures, his relationship to Flanders, and his
abdication; and products marketed in his name.[61]
Literature[edit]

In De heerelycke ende vrolycke daeden van Keyser Carel den V,
published by Joan de Grieck in 1674, the short stories, anecdotes,
citations attributed to the emperor, and legends about his encounters
with famous and ordinary people, depict a noble Christian monarch with
a perfect cosmopolitan personality and a strong sense of humour.
Converesely, in Charles De Coster's masterpiece Thyl Ulenspiegel
(1867), after his death Charles V is consigned to Hell as punishment
for the acts of the
InquisitionInquisition under his rule, his punishment being
that he would feel the pain of anyone tortured by the Inquisition. De
Coster's book also mentions the story on the spectacles in the coat of
arms of Oudenaarde, the one about a paysant of
BerchemBerchem in Het
geuzenboek (1979) by Louis Paul Boon, while Abraham Hans (nl)
(1882–1939) included both tales in De liefdesavonturen van keizer
Karel in Vlaanderen.
Lord Byron's Ode to
Napoleon BuonaparteNapoleon Buonaparte refers to Charles as "The
Spaniard".

Charles V is a notable character in Simone de Beauvoir's All Men Are
Mortal.
In The Maltese Falcon, the title object is said to have been an
intended gift to Charles V.

Plays[edit]

Charles V appears as a character in the play Doctor Faustus by the
Elizabethan playwright Christopher Marlowe. In Act 4 Scene 1 of the A
Text, Faustus attends Court by the Emperor's request and with the
assistance of
MephistophelesMephistopheles conjures up spirits representing
Alexander the GreatAlexander the Great and his paramour as a demonstration of his magical
powers.

Opera[edit]

Ernst Krenek's opera
Karl VKarl V (opus 73, 1930) examines the title
character's career via flashbacks.
In the third act of Giuseppe Verdi's opera Ernani, the election of
Charles as
Holy Roman EmperorHoly Roman Emperor is presented. Charles (
Don CarloDon Carlo in the
opera) prays before the tomb of Charlemagne. With the announcement
that he is elected as Carlo Quinto he declares an amnesty including
the eponymous bandit
ErnaniErnani who had followed him there to murder him
as a rival for the love of Elvira. The opera, based on the Victor Hugo
play Hernani, portrays Charles as a callous and cynical adventurer
whose character is transformed by the election into a responsible and
clement ruler.
In another Verdi opera, Don Carlo, the final scene implies that it is
Charles V, now living the last years of his life as a hermit, who
rescues his grandson, Don Carlo, from his father Philip II and the
Inquisition, by taking Carlo with him to his hermitage at the
monastery in Yuste.

Food[edit]

A Flemish legend about Charles being served a beer at the village of
Olen, as well as the emperor's lifelong preference of beer above wine,
led to the naming of several beer varieties in his honor. The Haacht
Brewery of
BoortmeerbeekBoortmeerbeek produces Charles Quint, while Het Anker
Brewery in
MechelenMechelen produces Gouden Carolus, including a Grand Cru of
the Emperor, brewed once a year on Charles V's
birthday.[62][63][64][65] Grupo Cruzcampo brews Legado De
YusteYuste in
honor of Charles and attributes the inspiration to his Flemish origin
and his last days at the monastery of Yuste.[citation needed]
Carlos V is the name of a popular chocolate bar in Mexico. Its tagline
is "El Rey de los Chocolates" or "The King of Chocolates" and "Carlos
V, El Emperador del Chocolate" or "Charles V, the Emperor of
Chocolates."

TV and film[edit]

Charles V is portrayed by Torben Liebrecht and is figured prominently
in the 2003 film Luther covering the life of
Martin LutherMartin Luther up until
the Diet of Augsburg.
Charles V is portrayed in one episode of the Showtime series The
Tudors by Sebastian Armesto.
Charles V is the main subject of the TVE series Carlos, Rey Emperador
and is portrayed by Álvaro Cervantes.

Spanish missions in the Americas
Architecture
Mesoamerican codices
Cusco painting tradition
Indochristian painting in New Spain
Quito painting tradition
Colonial universities in Latin America
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Slavery in Spanish Empire
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